Madhubuti is not a personal friend.

But for whatever reason, Hartman is intentionally trying to mislead people about why I believe it was wrong for Watson to force Madhubuti out at Chicago State University.

If anyone is showing bias, it is Hartman. In fact, she is Watson's hired gun.

She admits to being Watson's friend. And as recently as July, Hartman had a $19,000 no-bid short-term public relations and marketing consulting contract with Chicago State University. Yet nowhere in her April 7th column did she disclose she had been on the University's payroll.

Hartman is a very successful businesswoman and she's not running around picking fights in the media for nothing. She wants to be noticed. So it doesn't surprise me that she dropped the name of James Tyree, the owner of the Chicago Sun-Times in her column.

I was offended, however, that she claimed I might be in for a "bit of a business lesson" since Tyree was the Chairman of the Board at City Colleges when Watson was Chancellor. She seems to be suggesting that to criticize Watson is to criticize Tyree. That is absurd. Her remarks also have the scent of a veiled threat.

What happened to Madhubuti was wrong. Pure and simple. No amount of bullying will change that.